SEPT 25 - 27, 2026 | LONDON
In a year that has seen him finally get over the Grand Slam hump not just once but twice and emerge as the ATP Tour’s most consistent performer, Alexander Zverev played the role of hero on Sunday at The O2 in London, clinching the Laver Cup for Team Europe, 13-5, via a 7-6(3), 6-3 over Team World’s Learner Tien.
It marked the fourth time Zverev has sealed this global first-to-13 showdown following Chicago (2018), Geneva (2019) and Boston (2021). Making his seventh Laver Cup appearance, the German is the event’s all-time leading scorer with 26 points.
The reigning Roland Garros and US Open champion was looking for a bounce-back after dropping a 2-6, 7-6(5), 11-9 decision to Team World’s Alex de Minaur on Day 2.
Denied the Laver Cup in his first attempt in San Francisco in 2025, second-year captain Yannick Noah has brought the title back to Europe. His team carried a 7-5 lead into Sunday, needing to win two matches to capture the Laver Cup. They seized momentum early, with the new pairing of Flavio Cobolli and Jakub Mensik defeating De Minaur and Taylor Fritz.
With Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz waiting to play his part should Zverev falter against Tien, the German seized his moment.
“I haven’t won a Laver Cup match in two years, so I’m happy I did it today,” Zverev said. “Massive credit to the entire Team World. They pushed us all the way again. They were champions last year. This year, I think we had a great team. We have a great team chemistry. It was a team effort.”
Serving at 5-5, 0-40 in the opener, Tien, a lefty, brought The O2 crowd to its collective feet in appreciation after repeatedly chasing down Zverev overheads. The Californian would go on to erase his opponent’s triple break-point opportunity to hold, and eventually force a tiebreak. But it was there that the world No. 2 Zverev, who leads the ATP Tour in match wins this season with 56, asserted himself.
The 29-year-old Zverev would strike again early in the second set. With Tien serving at 2-3, 30-40, he would force a backhand error for his first service break in six opportunities. Zverev fought off a triple break-point opportunity for Tien at 4-2, and two games later served it out in one hour and 49 minutes.
“We had three chances to close it out in singles,” Zverev said. “Especially with Carlos playing after me, it gave me a little bit of confidence.”
Tien was making his Team World debut in the midst of a breakout year that has seen him reach his first major singles quarterfinal at the Australian Open and push toward the Top 10 in the PIF ATP Rankings. He won his first singles match on Day 2 when he took down Team Europe’s Cobolli, 6-3, 2-6, 10-7.
Zverev has been part of all six Team Europe victories, and owns the most singles wins at the event with eight.
“Winning as a team — there’s no better feeling in sports,” Zverev said. “We don’t have enough of it in tennis. Being among these great players you normally see across the net every single week, it’s just fun being out here.”
